1974: The Journey Begins…..

It was in the middle of what is generally regarded as one of the most chaotic yet culturally and socially important decades in world history that our Practice was born. A stocky go-getter looking to do his own thing while settling closer to family, one John Hutchinson, decided to take the plunge and purchased the Law Practice owned by Leon Scarfe at the offices located in the old Sutton & John St Arcade (where the Public Trustee is currently located). It was Nov 1974 and Cooke & Hutchinson, under the name of John Hutchinson Solicitor, was open for business.

But while a new journey had only just begun, the world around was in a state of flux and upheaval. Some of the more notable events of 1974 include:

– Nine new shops opened for business in newly constructed Sutton Centre in Redcliffe;
– Redcliffe AFL is formed;
– Kippa Ring Scouts Den is opened;
– The new Redcliffe City Council Chambers opens on 19 June;
– Brisbane floods catastrophically on 25 January;
– John Howard enters Federal Parliament as a humble opposition backbencher on 18 May;
– Cyclone Tracey hits Darwin on 24 December;
– Australia makes their first appearance in the Football World Cup finals held in West Germany where the home team eventually defeated Holland 2-1 in the Grand Final;
– India becomes the world’s sixth nuclear power after testing an atomic device on May 18;
– Richard M. Nixon becomes the first US President to resign the Presidency after finally succumbing to the Watergate scandal on Aug 8;
– Jimmy Connors defeats Aussie Ken Rosewall in straight sets in the Wimbledon Final;
– Martin Ryle received the Nobel prize for physics for using radio telescopes to probe outer space;

– The release of the films Chinatown, the Godfather Part II, Blazing Saddles and The Conversation helps to further an already remarkable decade in film;